I love, Love, LOVE Wikipedia. No, seriously, I really do love it. I know that if my mom, the library media specialist/copyright fanatic, is reading this, she is shaking her head in slight embarassment for this statement. When I discovered Wikipedia, it was like angels started singing and a light shone from behind the computer monitor. It was glorious. But anyway, my mom is not a fan of my favorite website because she believes it to be almost wholly unreliable because of the face that anyone can edit it. Understandable, which is why if I read something that sounds a bit crazy (and even some things that don't sound very wild), I take it with a grain of salt. But it really is an amazing resource. I have learned so much from Wikipedia-ing things. I mean, say you want to know a little bit about the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism or read a brief history of chewing gum - Wikipedia's got it. And, it's great for libraries, not just as a random resource for almost anything you ever wanted to know about, but you can look up authors and see the order of a series they have written (like James Patterson's Maximum Ride series). Amazing. I do understand, however, teachers not wanting kids to use Wikipedia as an official source for research projects. On the other hand, it is a great jumping off point. I mean, how many kids have come to the reference desk asking for information for a project about the Iroquois? Kids may not know where to start (hell, in my papers on religious iconography and whatnot, I don't always know where to start), but Wikipedia can send them in the right direction. I know what you're thinking, "But Katy, this is what books and databases are for!" Do you know how may middle schoolers even know what a database is? And not everyone has the book they need or can get to the library when possible, but, I ask again, How many 4th graders do you know who use the internet daily? I rest my case.
On to wikis other than the grandaddy of them all.... As great as they are, some things are just not meant to be wiki'd. For example, floating material and who needs what and who wants to get rid of items (huh? ACLDers know what I'm talking about). I get wanting to jump on the bandwagon that is wikis, but don't make more work for people. Where wikis do come in useful is when they are used to get customized information to people. Anyone who watches Lost, for example, would love Lostpedia. However, some things are better suited for blogs or good, ol' fashioned e-mail.
Hey, check it out, you can even Wikipedia "Wikipedia"!
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